


Silent Night

by awkwardblogger



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bullying, Canon-Typical Violence, Child Abuse, Child Murder, Deaf Character, Disabled Character, F/M, Homophobic Language, Jim "Chief" Hopper Adopts Eleven, Minor Character Death, Minor Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper, Not Canon Compliant, Parental Jim "Chief" Hopper, Past Child Abuse, Period-Typical Homophobia, Young Love, hard of hearing character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-02-09 22:58:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12898647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awkwardblogger/pseuds/awkwardblogger
Summary: Will never went missing, Eleven wasn't a lab experiment instead she had abusive parents who picked on her for being deaf. She is taken away by Family Services and fostered by Chief Hopper. She starts going to Hawkins Middle and imminently begins to shake things up.OrJane "Eleven" Ives shakes up Hawkins Middle by befriending school bully Troy Harrington. Mike Wheeler is especially drawn to the deaf girl, no matter who her friends are.





	1. "Eleven" Jane

**Author's Note:**

> This was written without a beta so all mistakes are mine.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane "Elven" Ives is the new girl at Hawkins Middle and she's shaking things up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story came to me when I thought to myself "what would a realistic AU of Stranger things look like Eleven had no powers and Will never went missing?"

Jane Ives was curled up in the big car. The social worker knew no ASL and hadn’t even tried to tell her where she was going. She had been in the car for a long time and she was beginning to fear the social worker was going to kill her. After hours of driving the car parked in front of a small house. The social worker got out of the car and started waving their arms wildly and speaking. Jane assumed she was yelling, her sister Kali told her hearing people spoke too loud when talking at her. Jane pieced together enough that the social worker wanted Jane to get out of the car, so she did.

The social worker grabbed her wrist and led her to the house. Before the social worker even knocked on the door it opened. A tall man in a button down shirt and jeans opened the door with an excited smile. He saw Jane and immediately began to sign, making her whole face light up.

‘Hello my name is Jim Hopper. I am your new foster father.’ The man signed.

‘Hello, my name is Jane Ives.’ She signed back, but then she did her name sign.

Hopper scrunched his face up in confusion. ‘Eleven? Eleven what?’

‘Me. Me eleven.’ Jane explained.

Hopper was still confused but he nodded. He’d have to get the story later, but for now the girl looked terrified and the social worker looked annoyed.

“Can’t she talk?” The social worker, Jim thought her name was Elizabeth or something.

“She’s deaf, dumbass.” Hopper deadpanned, his hands signing as he spoke.

“I can talk.” A quiet voice chirped, making Hopper look at Jane again.

She had short hair and clothes that were too big for her. Her eyes were wide and reminded Jim of a deer.

“I’m deaf not stupid.” Jane said, her deaf accent was prominent but she stood with an air of defiance.

The social worker scoffed like she didn’t believe Jane. She dragged Jane by the elbow to the couch and slightly pushed her towards it. The young girl got the gist of it and sat on the couch.

“Why you’d want to foster a kid like that is beyond me. She’s damaged beyond repair.” The woman said in a snooty voice.

“Are you done?” Hopper demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yes. A local social worker will be by in a few weeks to see how she’s adjusting. Goodbye.” And the woman left.

Hopper walked over to Jane who sat on the couch, staring at her shoes like they were the most interesting thing in the world. Hopper sat on the coffee table in front of her.

‘She is gone now.’ Hopper signed.

‘How did you learn to sign?’ Jane asked, cocking her head to the side in curiosity.

‘My mother was deaf. I grew up signing and talking.’ Hopper explained. ‘Why Eleven?’

‘All Mom and Dad would sign. Kali said that’s all they knew.’ Jane told him, like it was perfectly normal.

‘Who is Kali?’

‘Big Sister.’

Hopper blinked with confusion. Big sister? Oh right! He had forgotten all about her having siblings. He knew a little about the girl’s case. The parents had a ton of kids and treated them like shit. The cops came after two kids landed in the hospital and one died. There had been eleven kids before the death and some were sickly, went straight to the hospital. He didn’t know how bad the abuse was or if Jane had been targeted or not. In big families sometimes one child took the brunt of the abuse but not always in cases with abuse. He was just hoping Kali wasn’t the one who died and that whatever happened Jane hadn’t been the main target.

‘Where is Kali?’ Hopper asked.

‘Her mom took her.’ Jane signed with a frown.

‘You don’t have the same mom?’ Hopper questioned.

Jane shook her head, but didn’t move to sign. Hopper took this as a hint she was done talking about this topic.

‘Alright, let me show you your room.’ He signed with a big smile.

Her face lit up and she followed him to the room. It wasn’t anything special but the kid seemed to be in awe of the room, especially the window. She kept caressing the windowsill like she thought it would disappear.

‘Thank you.’ She signed seriously.

‘It’s no big deal.’ He brushed it off. ‘I am the chief of police. I work a lot but I will spend time with you. I want to become your family, I want us to bond and maybe one day I’ll adopt you if we think it is right. I have already enrolled you in Hawkins Middle School and have made the request for an interpreter.’

‘I am not going to special school?’ She asked, a twinkle of hope in her eyes. The idea of becoming family felt both exciting and scary. She had a family, but she was taken away and her parents were now in jail. Would her siblings not be her siblings if adoption was right for her and Jim Hopper?

‘No, the nearest school for the deaf is too far.’ Hopper told her. ‘But if regular school is too much we can switch your school.’

Jane beamed at him like she won the lottery and Hopper swore it lit up the whole room. No one had ever given her offers like this before. The world seemed so confusing now, so confusing it made Hopper’s offer seem like she had some control, like the confusion could be fought. The police men that had barged into her house and taken her and her siblings away told her what her parents had done to her were wrong, that how their parents treated them was really wrong. That’s how it had started, her haze of confusion. It was hard to believe them. If it was wrong how come it had gone on for so long?

Finally Hopper made dinner and they ate together, signing to each other as they ate. Jane insisted on helping her foster father clean up and then curled up in her cozy little room and fell asleep. It took a few days but it was finally confirmed that Hawkins Middle School was ready to take her and let her start.

She had spent the days waiting to start settling in at the Hopper residence and spent a lot of time in her room. She spent the daytime at the police station in the Chief’s office doing work sheets Hopper got from the school for her. She wanted to see the library Hawkins had as she was curios girl and enjoyed reading. Hopper had prepared for her to start school by buying her a plain black backpack and the rest of her school supplies. Jane was more focused on feeling safe in her new home, as she worried all Hopper was doing was just too good to be true.

The night before her first day of Hawkins Middle Jane found herself in her bedroom with the lights off. She was hiding under the desk with a flashlight, looking at one of the few pictures of her and her sister Kali. She was lucky to manage to save the photo when the police raided their home. The picture was kind of old, from a rare family outing and a distant relative took the picture and sent it to them when it was developed. She had always been closest to Kali out of all ten of her siblings and being away from her hurt, but Kali’s mom wouldn’t take Jane, said Jane wasn’t her problem.

Instead of crying like she longed to, Jane kissed the picture and put it back in her hiding spot. She turned off the flashlight and climbed back in bed, hoping she’d make at least one friend on her first day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane starts her first day at Hawkins Middle and makes an unlikely friend while drawing the interest of the AV club.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in real life bullies are bullies because of shit in their home lives. I didn't like how we couldn't see why Troy was like that so with this fic I went a little wild.

There hadn’t been a new kid to Hawkins Middle School since Max Mayfield and that was almost two years ago now. When news hit that a new kid would be starting the school population started to buzz with chatter, ideas of what the person would be like. The only person who didn’t seem the least bit interested was Troy Harrington. On the outside, the kid was just some angry bully and maybe he was, but these people didn’t know his life. A new student was just another person he had to fake it around and he hated faking it.

On Jane’s first day she went unnoticed at the lockers and when it was time for first period, Jane’s first teacher, Mr. Clarke, stopped her and her interpreter.

“Are you Jane?” He asked, Jane’s interpreted John signing it to her.

“Yes.” Jane croaked, watching her teacher blink at her deaf accent.

Daniel Clarke had never met a deaf person before and had never heard a deaf accent before. All the teachers had been told the Chief’s new daughter was deaf and would have an interpreter but he hadn’t expected her to really, well, be deaf.

“We’re going to introduce you to the class. Is that okay?” Mr. Clarke asked, John translating for Jane, who nodded simply.

Once everyone filed in they noticed the girl standing next to a grown up in the front of the class.

“Who is that?” Will Byers asked his friends, Max Mayfield, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair and Mike Wheeler, but none of them knew.

“Class, this is our new student, Jane Ives.” Mr. Clarke said, John signing it to Jane.

Troy blinked rapidly at the signing. Was that what he thought it was?

“Jane, please tell the class a little bit about yourself.” Mr. Clarke instructed.

“My name is Jane Ives, I live with the Chief and I like to knit.” Jane said, kids gawking at her deaf accent.

In the middle of the classroom Troy Harrington’s jaw dropped. That was ASL! He’d never seen it used outside his home before. Something about it felt warm and familiar, almost comforting even. He looked around the room and saw kids making disgusted faces at Jane’s deaf accent and he knew that bullying would be headed her way. For whatever reason this made him want to stop it from happening, he wanted to protect her. He’d never wanted to protect anyone besides himself and his brother, Steve, before.

Jane picked a seat in the front of the classroom, her interpreter sitting next to her and translating for the entirety of the class. Jane took notes, oblivious to the kids still gaping at her. Besides Troy’s curious and excited glances, the Hawkins AV club was staring at the newest member of their class.

“I can’t believe they let a deaf kid in Hawkins. Isn’t that like, a liability?” Lucas Sinclair whispered to his friends.

Lucas was not a mean kid but one that was cautious. Coming from one of the few black families in the town, kids targeted and picked on him, causing him to be cautious and protective of those he cared about. He also took his education and friendships very seriously. With Jane in the class he was worried they’d have to slow down for her and thus halt his progress, but she seemed to get by just fine with the help of her interpreter, none of them knowing Jane was missing half of what Mr. Clarke was saying. She’d get it all later, she knew she’d be fine.

“Don’t be stupid. She’s deaf not contagious.” Dustin Henderson scoffed.                                                            

Dustin was a tan boy with curly hair and a disorder called Cleidocranial Dysplasia. He knew what it was like to have a noticeable disability. He now wore fake teeth, but still had a lisp and could move his body in strange ways. Kids picked on him for it and he wasn’t going to let his friends do that to someone else. To Dustin, Jane seemed nervous and timid, the way Dustin felt around a crowd of new people without his fake teeth. She was vulnerable here, but he was trying to think like a superhero and save the day.

“I never claimed she was!” Lucas defended himself. “I’m just saying, I don’t wanna slow down for her! I **like** this class. I like learning new things.”

“She’s probably scared.” Will Byers said softly. “She’s new and she probably knows everyone is staring at her.”

Will Byers was a soft spoken, gentle boy. He had a big heart and a talent for art. All this combined with living in one of the poorest parts of Hawkins with his single mom and wallflower of an older brother seemed to convince bullies that he was a homo and in a small town like Hawkins, a brand like that stuck. If it weren’t for his friends, Will would have no one but his family. However he was fortunate enough to have an amazing group of friends.

“I bet she knows you’re talking about her too, so shut up.” Max Mayfield quipped.

Max had been the last person to join their group of friends and the AV Club. She moved to Hawkins two years ago from California with her mom, step-dad and step-brother. Billy Hargrove, Max’s older step brother, was a piece of work and Max could easily admit to her friends that she hated him. He made home a place she didn’t want to be.

“No she does-shit! She’s looking at us!” Lucas softly cried.

Sure enough, Jane was looking at them. She felt like someone was looking at her, so she had looked around and quickly noticed the AV club looking at her. She tilted her head to the side in confusion, not really understanding why they felt the need to stare and turned away.

“Great, now even the new girl thinks we’re freaks.” Grumbled Mike Wheeler, the leader of their group and president of the AV club. Mike was a middle child, with an adorable baby sister his mom spent all her time with, and an over achieving older sister his parents constantly praised. Despite being intelligent and never getting in trouble, Mike never  got the praise and attention his sisters got and the rare occasions he did get attention it made him vastly uncomfortable.

“Who cares what she thinks anyway.” Lucas scoffed, shrugging it off.

Lucas was used to people under estimating him, and had learned to not be hurt when people thought badly of him for little things. However, Mike couldn’t stop staring at Jane. She was pretty and fascinating. Mike couldn’t help but feel drawn to her.

Class went on and soon the bell rang. John signed to Jane and the two left for her next class. Mike did pout when he noticed she wasn’t heading in the same direction as her. No one in the AV Club had second period with Jane, but Troy did.

Before class started Jane was touching up her notes from Mr. Clarke’s class with John’s help. Once he class filled in, the teacher once again made Jane introduce herself and this time, she ended up sitting next to Troy. As their teacher, Mrs. Hienz, was getting something from her desk, Troy caught Jane’s eye. He could have hid, he could have ignored her, but on a whim he signed to her. He had no idea what possessed him to do it, but he did. He risked everything by simply signing to her.

‘Hello I am Troy Harrington.’ He signed, confident none of the other students could see him.

Her face lit up like the sky on the Fourth of July. She hadn’t been aware any of the other students knew ASL, it was a pleasant surprise.

‘Hi I am Jane Ives. Are you deaf too?’ She couldn’t help but ask.

Troy looked around again before answering. ‘No, I am hard of hearing. I’ve never met someone outside of my family who signs.’

Jane nodded. She had heard about “hard of hearing” from a book. She wasn’t an expert but at least she knew what it meant. As she looked at Troy, he seemed almost skittish. She wondered if he was severely bullied but pushed that idea out of her head. She had been bullied at her last school and it was a special school. She could only imagine how bad the bullying was in a school with ‘normal’ kids.

‘Are you okay?’ Jane asked, surprising Troy.

Troy was spluttering from shook, but quickly signed back. ‘Of course I am. Why are you asking?’

‘I don’t understand why you are befriending me. That will make them stare at you too.’

Before Troy could sign back Mrs. Hienz was back and they had to pay attention. In his mind, he knew she was right. Being nice to her was putting everything on the line, but a part of him couldn’t help but see himself in her and he had to at least try and protect her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Troy takes a stand and has to face the music.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is short, I got another one on the way.

By lunch time the whole school was whispering about the new girl, the freak, who had somehow befriended the biggest bully in the school, Troy Harrington. Mike wasn’t one to take rumors too seriously, but when lunch time rolled around and he saw the pretty new girl, Jane, siting with Troy, his jaw damn near dropped. They were communicating with their hands, sign language. He had no idea what they were saying or that Troy even knew something like sign language. People were gaping, Mike was among them.

“Holy shit!” Dustin gasped.

“Since when does he sign?” Will asked, tilting his head curiously.

“I wonder what will happen when someone tries to give him shit for being friends with a freak.” Lucas scoffed.

Apparently they didn’t have to wait long, before lunch ended James approached Troy. James and Troy usually got along, but apparently James was as curious as everyone else as to why Troy had taken a shine to the new “freak”.

“Troy, dude what are you doing hanging around his retard?” James demanded loudly. “And what’s with the hands? Is that some freak shit?”

Troy glared. “It’s sign language you idiot.”

“How the fuck do you know it?” James asked rather loudly.

It was deafeningly quiet as they all waited for an answer. Troy looked briefly at Jane who was staring James down like she could tear him apart with just her thoughts. Puffing out his chest, Troy answered “Because I’m hard of hearing.”

Troy forced all his confidence, though almost all of it fake, into his words. Jane couldn’t read Troy’s lips from how he was standing, but based on the sneer on the other boy’s face, she figured Troy admitted to being hard of hearing and wondered how he hid it for so long.

“So you’re like half freak?” James scoffed.

“I’m just hard of hearing. I’m not deaf, but I don’t hear so good and I’m **not** a freak.” Troy said firmly, trying to keep himself calm as he felt like he was going to jump out of his skin.

Internally, Troy was panicking. He fucked up, he fucked up, he fucked up. He shouldn’t have admitted it but it’s too late now and oh fuck!

James pushed Troy. “Oh yeah? Seems you’re a freak to me.” He snarled.

On impulse, Troy swung at James. There was so much force, anxiety and frustration pent up in that punch it sent James straight to the ground.

“Do **not** fuck with me again.” Troy snarled. “You leave me and Jane alone. That goes for everybody! You think I won’t kick your ass?”

Everyone was terrified and Troy used this to his advantage. He turned to Jane and signed to her, scaring a few people.

‘Come on, lets go.’ Troy signed.

Jane nodded and followed him away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning I don't know much about people who are hard of hearing but I'm trying my best. Also Lucas isn't a bad person, just isn't trusting and very hesitant.

Before Troy, Jane had never been around other people with hearing problems. It was oddly liberating to speak your language with someone who understood just how important it was, someone who didn’t pick it up to be kind, someone who needed it too. Jane quickly learned that Troy had the most problems hearing when they were around lots of other people. Early into a lunch a mean looking girl, who Troy identified as Stacy, had apparently said something to the both of them, but Troy and Jane couldn’t hear her. She got mad and repeated herself three times before Troy looked up and asked what she wanted. She made a remark about her having screamed at him several times to no avail and Troy brushed it off, making her angry and storm away. After another boy and Troy had an argument, they went back into the school and sat near the lockers.

‘That girl earlier, her name was Stacy and the boy I fought with is James.’ Troy told Jane.

‘Stacy seemed upset. Did I do something wrong?’ Jane asked earnestly. She’s still getting used to being around hearing people and she needed all the help and guidance she could get.

‘No, she was mad at me. When its loud, I can’t hear, worse than with regular hearing people.’ Troy explained. ‘It was very loud at lunch and I could just barely hear James when we fought.’

Jane nodded as her interpreted approached. ‘I better go; I’ll talk to you later. Thank you for your kindness.’ She signed with a smile before getting up and meeting with her interpreter.

Back with his friends, Mike’s head was stuck on Jane. How had she made friends with a jerk like Troy? She seemed so sweet and kind and Troy’s such a dick. Without meaning to, Mike began to form a plan and his friends noticed.

“You’re interested in her.” Max stated simply, earning a loud shushing noise from Mike.

“Dude, you can’t be into her, she’s deaf!” Lucas said like he was stupid.

“So?” Mike demanded stubbornly.

“So how are you going to talk to her, numb nuts? You don’t sign and she can’t hear.” Lucas pointed out.

“She can talk though.” Dustin chirped brightly.

“So? That doesn’t really help their communication.” Lucas said stubbornly.

Dustin rolled his eyes and turned to Will, muttering “why does he have to be such a hard ass?” It was strange for Dustin, having his friends talk about disability. He knew he had a disability and it was very different from the new girl’s, but he normally wasn’t around other people who had any kind of disability. He wanted to defend her though, because he’s seen people judge him for his disability too. Lucas was his best friend, but something about the way he talked about Jane, a complete stranger, made his upset. He didn’t get why Lucas seemed so against Mike being interested in the new girl, it was the perfect opportunity to tease their friend!

For the rest of the school day Dustin felt conflicted. Mike was quiet for most of the day, mostly because he couldn’t seem to shake the new girl from his mind and just when he thought he was able to get away from his interest in her, as they were getting their bikes at the end of the day, Max went up to her.

“Hi, I’m Max.” Max said with a soft smile.

“Hello, I am Jane.” Jane replied with a shy smile, her hands subconsciously signing the words she spoke.

“I know it’s scary being the new kid, but don’t let the kids scare you. I was new here a few years ago so I know what you’re going through.” Max was being friendly and understanding the way her friends had been when she started at Hawkins.

Jane knew the other girl was trying to be nice, but privately she doubted a hearing person knew how terrifying it was to start at a hearing school when you’re deaf. That didn’t mean she didn’t appreciate Max’s kindness though. “Thank you. It is very scary. Everyone keeps staring at me. I wish they’d stop.”

“Ignore them, they’re jerks.” Max told her with a defiant look. “We can teach them a lesson.” Max cracked her knuckles and Jane caught the implication behind it, giggles escaping her throat.

“Definitely, we’ll teach them some manners.” Jane teased with a playful smirk on her face, making Max laugh.

“I like you, you’re funny.” Max said happily. “I have to go home but we should hang out sometime.”

“Yeah.” Jane agreed before saying goodbye to the redhead.

Max walked away and got on her skateboard as her friends gaped at her.

“What the hell Max?” Lucas demanded in a hiss.

“I was making a friend, I need a friend that’s a girl, y’know.” Max said defiantly and skated away.

Mike wished he was as daring as Max as he saw Jane get into the sheriff’s car.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve is a protective big brother and Nancy tries to give her little brother girl advice.

Troy opened the door to the silent and large house he called home. His parents weren’t home, they were on yet another business trip, as his mom didn’t trust his dad to go alone. Troy shrugged off his back pack and dumped it on the kitchen table before flopping onto the couch. His head was swimming. For years he hid from others that he was hard of hearing, much to his father’s approval and his mother’s displeasure, but suddenly a deaf girl comes along and he feels protective of her; he feels not alone. He was sure school would be hell tomorrow, but in a weird way, he felt almost… free. He was so in his own head, or maybe he just didn’t hear his brother coming in, that he was caught off guard when his brother, Steve came up to him.

Steve ruffled Troy’s hair before plopping down next to him.

‘What’s up bud?’ Steve signed to Troy.

Steve was the best of Troy’s relatives at signing, simply because he put the most effort in when they were learning. Troy would sign and speak with Steve but unless their mom was also involved in the conversation Steve was usually comfortable enough to just sign.

“There’s a new girl at my school. She’s deaf.” Troy replied, signing as he spoke.

Maybe he should have said her name or what she looks like or that she lives with Chief Hopper, but what seemed to come running out of him was her deafness. Being around her felt oddly liberating yet infuriating due to the stares.

‘Oh yeah?’ Steve asked, a brow cocked.

“Yeah, I made friends with her.” Troy told his brother sheepishly.

‘Cool, tell me about her.’ Steve signed with a smile.

“Her name is Jane, she lives with Chief Hopper. She’s kinda shy but pretty witty. Her hair’s short and curly and her skin is very pale. Like almost sickly pale.” Troy found himself rambling.

‘Maybe she gets sick a lot.’ Steve signed with a shrug, heading over to the kitchen, and like a lost puppy Troy followed him.

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Troy agreed. It was quiet for a bit, till Troy blurted out “I told James I’m hard of hearing”.

Steve paused what he was doing, eating a handful of grapes, for a second before signing back his reply. ‘Did he take it well?’

“No, and I told him in front of everybody. He called me and Jane retarded and I punched him.” Troy admitted.

‘Forget James, he was a jerk anyway.’ Steve signed to his brother.

In his head, Steve was freaking out a little. Steve knew how bad kids could be, and while he didn’t want his little brother to be ashamed of himself or feel like he needs to lie about who he is, he didn’t want Troy to become a target at school either. As a big brother, he was protective of his younger brother, and he wanted to protect Troy from getting hurt. However, if what Troy wanted was to be honest about himself, who was Steve to try and stop him, even if it did shield the younger boy from bullying? The pair of brothers had always been close, relied on each other and looked out for each other, so if this was what Troy wanted, Steve wouldn’t stop him.

‘You let me know if you need me to handle anybody for you.’ Was all Steve offered, ruffling Troy’s hair once again.

At the Wheeler residence Mike was shifting through boxes of old books. When Nancy, Mike’s older sister, was in Kindergarten there had been a deaf boy in her class, so their mom got her a kid’s book on learning sign language. After Nancy finished Kindergarten the book was forgotten about, until now.

“Mike, what the hell are you doing?” Nancy Wheeler asked her little brother, an eyebrow raised at his antics.

“What does it look like? I’m searching for your Ruby Slippers, Wicked Witch of the West.” Mike quipped, earning an angered gasp and slap from his older sister.

“Jack ass!” She hissed. “Why are you digging through those boxes, seriously Mike?”

“I’m looking for an old book.” Mike grumbled, rubbing the back of his head, where his sister had hit him.

“Why?” Nancy demanded.

“Well, there’s this new girl at school-“ Mike began and Nancy cut him off.

“And you wanna have things in common with her!” Nancy chirped. “Aw Mike! You’ve got a crush!”

Mike glared at his sister as she sing-songed. “Shut up!”

“Well you’re making a smart choice, trying to have things in common with her. Girls like it when you have stuff in common with her and try to get to know her and her interests.” Nancy said approvingly.

Mike pursed his lips and went back to digging through the boxes. “I don’t have a crush on her, I just find her interesting.”

“You should invite her to eat lunch with you and your friends.” Nancy advised.

Mike looked at his sister in confusion. “Huh?”

“You said she’s new at school, so she probably doesn’t have a lot of friends yet if any at all. So invite her to eat with you guys.” Nancy explained. “You can become her friend and work to become more than friends.”

Mike blushed bright pink and threw a book at his sister, though it didn’t come anywhere close to hitting her. “Shut up, Nancy! Go away!”

“Jeez, you think you’d be thanking me for giving you advice.” Nancy grumbled, but walked way nether the less.

With Nancy gone, Mike returned to his search. He didn’t understand why everyone thought he had a crush on Jane. He didn’t even know her, but he wanted to. Finally, Mike found the book and dusted it off. For all he knew it might not even be that helpful, but he’d take any help he could get when it came to learning a new language.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max makes a new friend and sees that there's more than meets the eye when it comes to people.

Jane was feeling mildly optimistic about her second day of school. That girl Max and Troy had been very kind to her and she found the possibility of friendship with them very tempting. The chief had wanted to know about her day the second he came home from work. It was very new to Jane, having an adult want to know about her day and actually care about how she was doing. Sometimes it made her uncomfortable because she was so unused to it. She had complied with his wishes and told him about Troy and Max, making Jim beam.

‘That’s great! I was hoping you would make friends.’ Jim signed enthusiastically.

Jane smiled softly. ‘Me too. Hearing people are not always nice but they were.’

Jim was grinning like a mad man. In all honesty he’d been scared that she was gonna get picked on and spent all day wondering if putting her in public school had been a good idea. To hear that she made friends was fantastic. From what he’d seen of Jane so far, he could tell she was a sheltered girl, very innocent for her age and a bit skittish. He still hadn’t gotten any details about her home life, but he wasn’t actively seeking it; he was hoping she would instigate it. For now, he’d continue with focusing on school. Hearing impaired kids often struggled in hearing schools and even with the interpreter, Jim feared Jane would be at risk.

‘What about your classes? Any of them interesting?’ Jim asked. He knew enough about kids to know that if he outright asked if she was struggling in class he’d get lied to, so he played it safe.

‘No. We didn’t do anything interesting at least.’ Jane signed back with a shrug.

During dinner Jim told Jane about his day. Nothing too exciting happened, but to Jane the idea of an important job like a sheriff still seemed so awe-inspiring. After dinner Jane retired to her room to do her homework and only left her room the following morning. She missed her many siblings and her parents a lot, but she was here now with no way to really contact them. Maybe she should let go, but she didn’t want to. Hadn’t she gone through enough change?

When she got to school in the morning she saw Max outside the school and smiled at her. Jane almost wanted to avoid her. Yes Max seemed nice, but it was always a struggle to communicate with hearing people that didn’t sign at all and it was too early for all that effort. But Max saw her and bounded right over with smiles.

“Morning! The weather looks crummy today.” Max greeted, going a little too fast for Jane to catch everything she said.

“Good Morning.” Jane said shyly.

“What’s wrong?” Max asked, furrowing her brow.

Jane bit her lip, contemplating if she should answer truthfully. “You talk too fast, I can only partially  understand you.”

Max blinked owlishly and nodded slowly. “Sorry, I didn’t realize.”

Jane smiled bashfully. “It’s okay, just please try to remember.”

Before Max could speak again Troy Harrington walked up to them. Max stiffened, knowing what a jerk the guy could be. Sure he was nice to Jane yesterday but that didn’t mean anything, it as easy enough for a person to change how they treat someone. But Troy didn’t do or say anything nasty.

“Good morning. Is your interrupter meeting you inside?” Troy asked, signing as he spoke.

Jane nodded, smiling at the known bully. “Good morning, yes he is meeting me in homeroom.”

To Max’s surprise Troy didn’t even look at her, he just made conversation with Jane, signing as he spoke. Max stood and watched and followed them into the building, her friends watching in surprise.

“Do you know what we’re doing in class today?” Jane asked.

“I think we’re doing a lab in science.” Max said, earning a nod from Jane.

“At least that seems more interesting then yesterday.” Jane said with a soft smile, earning a laugh from Max and Troy.

The group chatted as they made their way to homeroom, some of the first kids to do so. True to his word, Jane’s interpreter was waiting for her. Even as other kids began to fill the room, the two other kids stayed by Jane and for the first time since being separated from her family, she felt not alone. When class started she stuck pretty close to Troy, already associating him to safety. At lunch time she knew she’d eat with Troy again but she didn’t expect it when Max came over, lunch in hand. Sure, Max had been nice that morning and the day before, but she hadn’t thought Max would eat lunch with them.

“Hi, do you mind if I join you guys?” Max asked.

“Go ahead.” Jane answered with a smile.

Troy didn’t say anything, just giving the redhead a half hearted shrug. Across the cafeteria, Max’s other friends were gaping at her.

“Is she crazy?!” Dustin whisper shouted. “Eating lunch with Troy Harrington?”

“I think she’s there for Jane.” Will said simply.

“Still, everyone knows Troy’s a bully, especially Max! She’s gotta know this will cause nothing but trouble.” Lucas whined.

Mike looked over at his friend as she talked to the girl that intrigued him. He wished he had the guts to just go up and sit with them, but with Troy there he saw that ending badly.

“So, where are you from, Jane?” Max asked. “I’m from California originally myself.”

“Indianapolis.” Jane replied softly. “Lived just outside the city.”

“Wow, that’s a lot bigger than Hawkins. Did you like it there?” Troy found himself asking.

Eleven gave a shrug. “I didn’t leave the house much.”

“You didn’t? What about for school?” Max asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

“For school, but otherwise I wasn’t supposed to go outside.” Jane admitted.

The two other tweens were confused. Not allowed outside? They knew she had been adopted, but what kind of crazy orphanage or group home had she been in? But neither had the guts to ask about it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike finally talks to the new girl and Jim talks to his girlfriend.

For Troy, it was a weird day. People stared at him as he stood by Jane’s side, the two of them signing to each other as people gawked at the sight. He felt like the main attraction of a freak show, a barb he regularly used on the Hawkins AV Club. He’d been nice to Max when she hung around them, something he noticed amazed her. He didn’t necessarily like being a bully, but he fit in when he was mean. No one dared mess with him, and now he was trying to move past that. He didn’t want people to be afraid of him anymore, but he didn’t want them to mess with him either. Somehow it felt like straddling a fine line, being feared and not being treated like shit.   
He learned more about Max than he ever thought he would. He heard her babble on about her friends, the stuff they did together and the funny shenanigans they got into. He didn’t miss how she didn’t once bring up her family and bit his tongue. He learned about Jane too. He learned that her parents must have been strange people to not allow their kid outside, not allow their kid privacy, or spend time with friends. He learned Jane had siblings, a lot of them, and that she missed them. It made him briefly imagine being separated from Steve and he felt small and helpless at just the thought. But despite the stares, he stayed by Jane’s side until the final bell rang and it was time to go home. As Troy made his leave, he couldn’t help but see Mike Wheeler start walking towards Jane out of the corner of his eye.   
To say Mike was nervous was the understatement of the year. Jane was undeniably pretty, but as she stood outside the school with the wind blowing through her short hair, Jane looked more like a young movie star than just a pretty girl. He wiped his sweaty palms against his jeans as he walked up to her.   
“Uh hi, I’m Mike, Mike Wheeler.” Mike bashfully introduced himself, clumsily signing out his name.   
He had poured over his sister’s book the night before and with it’s help he learned the ASL alphabet and how to introduce himself. Jane’s eyes brightened and she smiled at him. The ASL was shaky at best, clearly he was new to it, but he was trying to introduce himself and it was sweet.   
“Hello, I’m Jane. We have class together.” She said, signing easily as she spoke.   
Troy stood at her side like a protective guard dog. He didn’t know what Wheeler was up to, but he didn’t want to stop Jane from having friends. She seemed so lonely to him and after learning what kind of weirdos her parents must have been, he figured that was why.   
“Yeah, we do. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself sooner, I didn’t really know how.” He admitted with a slight blush.   
“Mike is a friend of mine.” Max added, putting herself in the conversation. “He’s really nice.”   
“That’s good. Nice is… good.” Jane said softly, a smile playing on her lips.   
Before Mike could say more, the Sheriff’s car pulled up and Jane waved goodbye before bounding off to the car. Troy gave Mike a dirty look before leaving himself, leaving Max and Mike as their other friends came to them.   
“Mike, what the hell man?” Lucas asked.   
“Shut up, Lucas! I think it’s good he’s being nice to her.” Max huffed, puffing out her chest. “Jane seems so lonely, it’ll be good for her to have friends.”   
“Maybe we should be her friends too then.” Dustin piped up, earning a nod from Will.   
“Are you crazy? That would just make the bullying worse. I say we leave her be.” Lucas said firmly.   
“Lucas, the biggest bully in the school is her friend. We have nothing to lose.” Will pointed out.   
Jane sat in Jim’s car as Jim drove them home. She knew Jim had plans tonight. She’d have to make dinner for herself and she was okay with that. She made Eggos, not caring that they were a breakfast food. Today had been a  long day and she thought maybe she’d go to bed early. It was strange having this much space, this much freedom. It was even stranger to have the house to herself, but it was a good kind of strange and she relished in the freedom, pushing back her fear.

On the other side of town, Jim Hopper was in a nice restaurant, sitting across from his girlfriend, Joyce Byers. They hadn’t gotten together since Jim brought Jane home, but Joyce had known about all of this beforehand. The two had been together for six months and they were serious.

“I think it’s time I introduce you to my kids.” Joyce says in the middle of dinner.

Jim almost chokes on his steak. “But they already know me.” He croaks.

“Yeah, but I want to introduce you as my boyfriend. They know I’ve been seeing someone but we haven’t really gotten into it yet. Plus, I can meet Jane too.” Joyce explains.

It sounded pretty fair to Jim. Jonathan and Will should meet him as Joyce’s boyfriend. With how serious things were, they might all be a family one day. He wasn’t sure how well Jane would do, however. From what he did know about Jane, her mother was neglectful and cold. Distant. The girl had never had a real mother figure besides her older sister and he didn’t know if Jane would cling to Joyce or be terrified of her. However, maybe it would be good for Jane.

“That’s a good idea.” Jim finally whispered after a minute.

“You don’t sound convinced.” Joyce pointed out.

“I’m just surprised and a little worried how Jane will handle it, but I want to.” Jim admits.

“Okay than. We’ll figure this out, together.” She says firmly, taking Jim’s hand.

It isn’t much, but it’s enough to make the sheriff feel better.


End file.
